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Hello From The Hornes
March 31, 2004
GREETINGS FROM SOUTH AFRICA: I would have thought that after Janu-WEARY
and Febru-WEARY, we’d be able to slow down a little bit this month, but no…all
we’ve done is march, march, march from one activity to another. I mean, after
you spend mornings at the Bible College, two nights out of the week at church
services, two other nights out of the week opening your home to groups for Bible
Study and Marriage Enrichment, weekends preparing sermons, and (added to all of
this) on-going counseling sessions, it leaves little time for anything else. But
then, marching for the Master always has been, and still is our life! Not to
mention that, one day, we hope to be numbered among “the Saints when they go
marching in!”
A BIG LET DOWN: Everything was ready. SABC teachers and students alike
were ready for the big day. Having been told that our visitors would be present
for both morning tea time and lunch, extra tables had been set. Fresh flowers
adorned the tables and a special smothered steak dinner was prepared. As the
hours passed, it became evident that our visitors weren’t coming after all. This
was the first time that inspectors from the Government were officially coming to
assess the Bible College. Now it appears they would be coming another day. Not
that we were worried. After all, there is something like 110 bible colleges in
South Africa, of which only 13, including SABC, have been given “provisional
accreditation.” Sure enough, the Academic Inspectors from the Dept. of Education
(DOE) eventually visited the college (a week or so later) to perform the usual
accreditation audit and inspection. They were very complimentary and positive
about the college standards in general. They also expressed great satisfaction
and appreciation for the proposed library complex
building after examining the building and site plans. They said, “This will
complete your Campus buildings very nicely and will enhance your on-going
service to your community (meaning the church).”
RESCUE THE PERISHING: Yesterday was a public holiday here, so one of our
teachers, Zachariah Mbewe, took his family and 3 of our students to the Pretoria
Zoo about 50 Km from here. On the way home, in a blinding rain, he stopped his
car on the shoulder when another vehicle ploughed into the back of it. The car
was totaled! At 10 p.m. last night, we learned, for the first time, that they
were all in the Kalafong Hospital in a possibly dangerous black township (Attridgeville)
in Pretoria. It is 40 Km west of the big city. After numerous phone calls, Jerry
Hogg and I took the SABC Venture bus to “rescue the perishing” and collect them
from the hospital. Fred Bergh met us about 11:30 p.m. at the Pretoria fountains
near UNISA to direct us on to the hospital in the dark. That was extremely
helpful in locating the hospital and patients quickly. All of them had been
x-rayed by then and no broken bones were detected. Shortly after midnight, we
started the trip back to Benoni with our precious cargo…the five Mbewes and the
three students. Some of them had really painful whiplash. Since it was early in
the morning, the roads were fairly deserted, although we did see many street
people, both white and black, sleeping on the sidewalks. There were also a few
trying to keep warm and out of the rain. We delivered the Mbewes to their house
in Benoni and then Jerry took the other students to the men’s dorm on the
campus. I got to bed at 2:15 a.m. We were thankful to God that their lives were
all spared.
REAL “SAF’FRICAN”: A most enlightening publication strives to translate
interesting South African phrases for overseas visitors to our shores. “Is it?”
is not necessarily a question, but rather like, “Is that so!” “Now, now” could
mean “shortly or in the immediate future. “Just now,” however, could mean “from
soon or up to three days or so.” “Cafe” is, of course, the corner shop, and
“China” is a mate. Finally, “lekker” is “great or wicked.” Lekker, it would
appear, leaves lots of latitude in interpretation.
HIGHEST IN THE WORLD: It’s been discovered that South Africa is the
highest producer of dagga (marijuana) in the world. Mozambique, Lesotho,
Swaziland and Malawi are also in that class. Besides marijuana being an
undesirable product to inflict on people, it is creating a lower food production
problem, since those who grow and market marijuana have discovered it to be a
far more lucrative product. We hope this country doesn’t go up in smoke!!
FAKE PASSPORTS: Charges were withdrawn in the Johannesburg Commercial
Crime Court against three for allegedly selling hundreds of fake passports of
Southern Africa countries. The police had seized from them: 515 Namibian
passports, 667 Swazi passports, 8 Zambian passports, and 9 South African
passports. You ask why the charges of fraud and forged documents were
withdrawn…“Because the police had failed to complete investigations.” One
wonders about this until it is remembered that we’re having a serious theft
crisis in this area…the theft of manhole covers! Not only is that a hazard to
public safety, but perhaps that is what is taking the police corps’ time and
attention away from more serious matters like passport forgery. It’s a good
thing that we don’t have to produce manhole covers when we cross over the
borders. That would put a heavy burden on us, ha.
BURIED WITH CHRIST: We saved the best news ‘til the last, and that is
that we’ve had two more baptisms this month. Paul, younger brother of Zachariah
Mbewe, was baptized tonight. Also, Marge Venter obeyed the gospel. She is the
best friend of Dylese, whom we baptized along with her husband, George Archer,
around 30 years ago. Before he passed away a year ago, George studied with Marge
and gave her a brand new Bible. With the guidance of the Word and with the
perseverance that George displayed, Marge began regular attendances at Sunday
worship and also at Ladies’ Bible Class. Now she is numbered among the saved!
WITH OCEANS OF LOVE FROM ACROSS THE SEA,
AL AND DONNA HORNE, YOUR MISSIONARIES TO SOUTH
AFRICA
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